Okay so I didn't know where to put this so I thought..General Parenting...

My dh and I will be receiving a large sum of money gifted for the kids' college education. We are looking at either the 529 plans or an ESA...

Does anyone have any advice or opinions on either?

I know they vary alot between states and all and we have done a ton of research but i just thought I'd see if any of you ladies had any "educated" opinions to share...

thanks in advance.

melanie

I put my dd's money in a Roth IRA. Now, here is the tricky part...the IRA had to be in my name. If she decides not to go to college (and after Mommy takes her 18 year old tushy over my knee) then the money can be used for either my retirement or the purchase/renovation of a home for me. If she gets a scholarship and doesn't need all of the money then what is left over can be used for her to use as a down payment on a home. That is the only catch, the money can only be used for three things without penalty...education, retirement, or home purchase/renovation. Personally, I just liked the flexibility of this option. There is a financial company called Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and I went through them because it is a Christian based organization and I just felt more comfortable with the advice that I was given.

Sara

I'm not of much help here but hubby is into financial planning and investing and such. He said the 529 is typically best for education. He wasn't sure about Kansas specifically but said you typically can't go wrong with it.

Hope whatever you decide works out!

thanks ladies...I think my dh has decided the 529 plan is the better way to go for the larger sum of money...the esa has a $2000 per beneficiary cap on it in a given year...

Now just to figure out WHICH 529 plan to use...state or other...such big decissions to try to conquer in planning for your children...one of the biggest questions is that we want the money to be spread out evenly between ALL our kids...but we don't know how any that will be yet...fortunately the 529s have allowances for that..

Thanks again...if anyone else has any input, I'd still love to have it... thanks.

My husband says to check with Dave Ramsey on every financial thing. That is what he does! :-D